Expert systems in the steel industry - Introduction

Steelmaking involves a variety of complex processes which do not lend themselves to exact mathematical modeling. Steel manufacturers often rely on the experience of individual experts to provide reasoning based on incomplete and uncertain data. The steel industry has adopted expert systems relatively early for further automating production. Although quality optimization and energy conservation are important aims, the most important motivation for applying expert systems seems to be production standardization. An expert system that acts as a consultant helps in making production decisions more transparent.